


Postcard From the Edge

by wneleh



Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: Circa 3x03 "Assured Destruction", Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wneleh/pseuds/wneleh
Summary: "He's fine."
Comments: 12
Kudos: 12





	Postcard From the Edge

A printed picture, delivered by courier, all of 15 cm by 20. Four people seated at a table, two men, two women, and James. James’s mouth forms a straight line, his forehead is creased, and Elise thinks his eyes are wet – is he in pain? What is this?

No, he’s laughing, or about to. Those creases, those lines around his eyes, are James’s now.

The closer women – a beauty, seated to his left – is somewhat annoyed by whatever has been said. There’s a persistent tension between her and James, Elise can sense, but also a deep familiarity; they’re in each other’s space; they are each other’s other. Well.

The angle of the shot makes the two men harder to read, though the older has raised a hand as if trying to make a point, while the younger, larger man is less engaged – or, rather, he’s more broadly alert. Protective? 

Only the other woman looks out of place. That’s Roberta Draper, the Martian marine, Elise realizes. She and James had crossed paths? She and James were messmates??

“Friends,” Elise says aloud. 

Her eyes tearing, Elise turns the picture over. Yes, there’s a note. “He’s fine.”

It’s signed, “Love, CA.”


End file.
